Blame it on the stress: an exploration of coping motivated substance use behavior in African Americans

Extant literature highlights the propensity of African Americans to engage insubstance use behaviors to modify negative affect. Coupled with the substance use culture on college campuses, African American undergraduates are particularly vulnerable to problem substance use behavior. Moreover, researchers have linked psychological distress to increased risk of substance use behavior. The purpose of this study was to explore coping behavior in a sample (N = 603) of African American undergraduates in the Southeast. More specifically, this study sought to explore the protective features ingrained in African culture that may serve to buffer the impact of these negative experiences. Findings suggest that race related and acculturative stressors were significant predictors of alcohol use and African centered coping behavior in this sample. Lastly, ethnocultural factors including worldview orientation, traditionalist acculturative strategy, and religiosity/spiritually mediated the relationships between stress and coping behavior.